Farmer protests at Middle East seminar

by Megan Kuhn
For The Post

Two men with gags in their mouths protested last night’s Middle East seminar because one of them was slated to speak and then was dis-invited by the event’s organizers.

Athens activist Art Gish and his supporter Stephen Rounthwaite sat gagged in the middle of a crowd of about 50 people at the first of a four-day seminar on the Middle East in Baker University Center’s1954 room.

A resident of Palestine from 1995 to 2001, Gish initially was invited on separate occasions by two of the event’s organizers to participate in the seminar. Later, the seven international development studies graduate students organizing the seminar dis-invited him because three of the other speakers voiced concerns about his involvement.

Other speakers refused to lend legitimacy to Gish’s perspective, one the seminar’s organizers Jesse Gaither said.

“It would have been very difficult to secure the other speakers with Mr. Gish on the panel,” Gaither said.

Gaither said there are few people in Athens willing or able to speak about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. To lose half of the seminar’s speakers would have been detrimental to its purpose.

“It was our decision as an organization that we could achieve balance without upsetting or adding insult to other members of the community,” Gaither said.

Gish said he would have attended the seminar regardless of his invitation, but that the dis-invitation was a restriction of free speech.

“I find that totally unacceptable behavior. I will not accept censoring speech,” he said. “It illustrates the problems in the Middle East. All perspectives ought to be welcomed. It really impoverishes the dialogue.”

Gish said had he been able to participate, he would have spoken about his experience with the Christian Peacemaking Team and its non-violent protests in Palestine.

Emeritus professor of engineering Charles Overby attended last night’s seminar and said he was appalled that Gish was dis-invited. Overby said one reason he came to OU in the late 1960s was because the university was a free speech campus and that he still believes in academic freedom.

Gish said he chose to attend the event with a gag in his mouth as a non-violent act to raise the issue of why some people’s opinions are valued more than others’.

“When people see that they’ll have to ask ‘why?’” he said. “I’m just asking the question. Other people will answer it.”